Rep Eshoo: FCC Broadband Deployment Committee Needs Local Input

Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) wants the Federal Communications Commission to tap into more state and local government input on broadband deployment, suggesting the FCC’s goal now is to serve industry and tie the hands of those local governments. That came in a letter Rep Eshoo sent to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the other commissioners Nov 7. Rep Eshoo wants to see more state and local officials on the FCC's Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). She has 14 other signatories on the letter, including House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Doyle (D-PA).  BDAC is expected to come up with two "model codes," one for cities and the other for states, those codes being guidelines for how to streamline broadband deployment while balancing the interests of government with the demands for better, faster and cheaper broadband. As currently constituted, says Rep Eshoo, over 75% of the board is made up of representatives of big wireless and cable companies including as AT&T, Comcast and Sprint, citing a report from the Center for Public Integrity. "We are concerned that the composition of the 30-member BDAC relies too heavily on the input of industry voices and less on public officials who are responsible for protecting the public interest and who understand the issues and perspectives of local communities nationwide,” says Rep Eshoo. Eshoo also cites what she says is BDAC's lack of transparency and restrictions on public access to working documents.